Cult of Ecstasy

We know what you're thinking, and no, they aren't Slaaneshi... for the most part. The Cult of Ecstasy are if both the drug users and flower children of the 1960's got powers in Mage: The Ascension. They're here to "blow open the doors on the way to enlightenment" and "live beyond the bounds of acceptability".

And get high.

History

The Cult of Ecstasy is hard to trace as an ideology before the start of the Traditions due to the natural problem of drug addicts being poor record keepers, but the general gist of what they believe is that at some point in the ancient past, before mankind's idea of civilization took root, man was at once willing and able to give and receive pleasure and ecstasy as equal measure. This communion of pleasure manifests as a universal heartbeat they refer to as Lakashim. This took root as a number of disparate religious and spiritual groupings throughout antiquity: Mayan Priesthoods, Dionysian Cults, Tantra, even the teachings of Aristotle influence the core teachings and literature of the Ecstatics. The Cult's true form ironically finds itself during the Inquisition, where a influential Mage named Sh'zar reads the myriad combined knowledge of these older cults, and is struck with intense visions of the future where the Order of Reason completely wipes the mysticism of the past from the world, and begins preaching what he knows and what he's seen to his fellow mages by both warning them of danger and treating them universally as equals. Since most Mages during this time were under the Hermetics' iron thumb of "Get yelled at until you git gud", a lot of people began flocking to his teachings.

Initially and somewhat understandably, the Hermetics and the Choir were not super interested in this group of drug addicts and perverts, but Sh'Zar did the critical work of keeping them on task and not fighting each other and fighting the machinations of the Order of Reason. Through a little political maneuvering, he got them a seat at the table, where the Cult has existed ever since in all it's drugged up glory, retreating to Greece and India as the clock of history continued onwards, growing fractious and violent with time, until Sh'Zar finally came back to remind them that the point of the Cult was to be about pleasure and shit, and then changed the cult's name just to make sure everybody knew what was up; keeping their perversions and substance abuse focused on the right places.

It should not surprise you to learn that the 20th century was huge for the Cult; particularly the 1960's, where a period of explosive growth for the Cult overwhelmed them due to the massive influx of culture and mind-expanding drugs probably accidentally creating more of their number than any specific teachings, another influx would come in the 90's when two decades of Technocratic society trying to scab over the 60's struck a sour note with them, and they've been working overtime to see that Sh'Zar's visions don't come to pass...by doing around three times the normal amount of drugs and fucking even harder.

Hey kid, wanna get your mind expanded?

The Cult of Pleasure is, buried underneath a mountain of booze and tits, all about pushing the boundaries of reality by rejecting it as nothing more than an illusion, and can dispel this illusion, if only briefly, through transcendent experience. It's not just Hookers and blow all the time, some of it can come from simpler pleasures like music or art or food or even something like body modification, but the point is to reach a level of sensation that allows your mind to see the world for what it truly is. It's for this reason that Cultists powers often manifest through the Sphere of Time, and traditionally have been seen as mystics, oracles, and shamans (though not nearly to the extent of the Dreamspeakers).

The Cultists would laugh off the idea of a Sphere however, since they understand the Spheres as less explicit separate entities of reality and just parts of a bigger whole; the only thing specific about them is that they themselves are unreal; Illusions of things like Time, Matter, Forces, etc, and are treated as such. Once you understand that something like Time isn't real, you can bend it however you want, and thus anything is possible. That is how this group of whores and druggies ended up in the seat of Time; they see Time as the ultimate barrier, the very last possible boundary...and want to smash it down and live outside of it.

Cultists themselves generally walk their own path to Enlightenment and Ascension, as there are a million ways to do it and each person's way is equally valid, though they'll generally group up in order to help themselves find breakthroughs or push each other or themselves into finding deeper truths of Life and Time and through experimentation and new sensations. Basically daring each other to get on the magic carpet ride to enlightenment until someone finally says "Do it or no balls" and you stand up, fueled by alcohol, to go ahead and do it just to shut them up.

The Esoteric Power of Percocet and Wine

One of the Ecstatics' most defining trait and stereotype is their affinity for narcotics and sexual experience as a foci for their magic. It's not their only Foci, as the concept is to expand and open your senses, which can be any number of things: a favorite story read aloud, a comic book, a prayer (the Chorus loves that.), anything like that...but Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll is generally accepted to be the easiest and most useful ways of doing it.

Don't just assume this is a way to free ass and weed though; the Cultists take this shit very seriously. For the Ecstatics, Sex is more than just fun; it's a three-tiered system with wanton fucking being at the very bottom, and requires either a lot of it or a perfect situation to create the perfect moment of momentary enlightenment. They'll happily go down on you if you ask, but you're not going to really get much beyond the obvious. Their concept of "high-sex" is pleasurable, but it's honestly more work than play; being a specific tantric ritual designed to share energies with the other person. Lovemaking is the creamy middle of the two, being more about intense personal bonding, something that the Ecstatics also see as something that can expand your boundaries, though not nearly to the extent as their more intense rituals. Oh yeah and do not use their permissiveness as an excuse to try and force yourself on them or another person; that's in their code. If they consent though? Have a ball.

As for drugs, they categorize them into three very scientific roles based on what they do: Running Toward, which is about manifesting energy (Coke, Meth etc.), Running Away, which is about relaxing energy and introspection (Weed, Booze, Morphine, Quaaludes if you know anybody who makes them)...and Bad Shit. They try not to use Bad Shit because all that's gonna do is fuck you up and actively disable your ability to use without also creating understanding (heroin, krokodil, fentanyl, basically anything that could seriously screw up your brain irreversibly). Most Elder Cultists will toke up and encourage their disciples to do so as well, but will try to get you off the Bad Shit or actively use magic to break your addiction as quick as possible.

As expected, this can become its own obstacle, as the Cultist worries about getting stuck in the "same old shit" over and over again, but such is the big hurdle; if you can overcome it, then you get to see some really crazy shit just by remembering the feeling of getting your back blown out, or the taste of the best beer you've ever had cross your lips. Such Cultists are considered true masters, as they've transcended the surface level pleasures and understand them deeper than any one person ever could.

Code of Ananda

Sh'Zar realized quite quickly that while all the pleasure in the world and chasing it is a net good for Cultists, this gaggle of meth addicts and nymphomaniacs need a little bit of guidance to keep them from tearing themselves, and the tradition, to shreds and committing exceptionally dangerous crimes. Thus, he set down the Code of Ananda, which attempts to set guidelines for all Cultists on what "Acceptable Behavior" is.

The Code reads as follows:

• I. Thou art miraculous: So are we all. - Don't use your magic to lord over Sleepers. They might Awaken someday.
• II. He who spits upon his good right hand shall find the left one fails him in need - Help your fellow Cultist if he needs it, and don't take it for granted. You're gonna need help eventually too.
• III. Each gold coin yields two like it; each stalkgiven creates a bundle. Yet, each coin taken turns therest to dross, and one bundle gone creates a famine. Thus shall a Seer count his deeds. - Don't fuck up the magic blunt rotation. Help your fellow Cultist and Sleeper with your findings if you can.
• IV. Some minds rest best asleep. Stir not thosewho would not waken otherwise. - Don't wake up Sleepers willy-nilly. A hotly debated topic among the Cult since it's very much against the "push the boundaries of personal reality" thing that the Cult was founded on. Without a doubt the part of the code most broken or ignored by it's more unsavory characters.
• V. Truths foreseen are not always truths. - Don't believe everything your visions tell you and certainly don't assume your magic brought upon by taking Hyper-Percocet is fact.
• VI. If a man (or a woman) would rend another’s passions, let him be as one torn by wild dogs. For passions are the seat of the Self, and if they bleed, so too does the soul. - If anybody's using their magic to do rapes or fuck people's brains up, you have full permission to blow them up.
• VII. Let each Seer account his own deeds, and if those deeds should want for wisdom or kind-ness, let him be put forth to weep alone - It's not a Cult if you're on your own. Don't be a shut-in, show up to Cult meetings, learn what people have to teach.
• VIII. Humor cooleth blood: Wrath spilleth it. - Don't harsh your own buzz by taking yourself seriously.
• IX. Even trees rent by lightning may grow new fruit. - This one is the subject of much more scholarly debate, as it's either referring to the Cult being capable of redeeming someone's defiled understanding of Passions, or that those who fall in the Cult have a chance at redemption.
• X. A fool feels no fear; A Sleeper remains shackled by it; A Master transcends it, yet recalls itswisdom. It is good to be afraid: It is folly to bow to terror. - Be free to test your boundaries and your limits, but don't do something blatantly stupid. Understandably a lot of the Cult's initiates fuck this one up the hardest.

As you can probably tell from reading, it's mostly just "don't be a dick' written ten different ways, but it's important to keep hammering that point home because the Cult's understanding of pleasure is very Slaaneshi, if we're looking at it from the outside.

Organization

Believe it or not, there is some method to all this and they do not always agree.

The best way to describe traditional Ecstatic organizations is that they come into two categories: Agree with the Code, or Disagree with the Code. Those who agree with the Code of Ananda teach it as part of their already existing practices, and those who Disagree...do not, and instead seek to transcend even those rules put down by Sh'Zar. Modern organizations hold equal standing with the most ancient of all and are listened to for wisdom just as much (it would not make for good Ecstatics to be judgemental), though the modern factions are hyperfocused on the Sphere of Time, and furthermore are more interested in messing around with shit already thought to be pretty dangerous by both sides of the Code argument. Still, everyone has time to pass around the rails of cocaine.

The Code adherent Factions are:

• Joybringers: Largest modern faction, born of the old Cult of Bacchus that fell in the 19th century. They're one of the strictest about the Code, but for the most altruistic reasons of wanting to ascend humanity all at once rather than one at a time.
• K'an Lu: An ancient sect of Taoist monks who introduce themselves to extreme physical sensation in order to better perfect themselves and to bring themselves into an ultimate balance that ends in their ascension. While extremely rare these days, they've had a big impact on other Code-adherent Sects, even if the others simply cannot keep up with their rigid and often quite painful methods of self-enlightenment.
• The Fellowship of Pan: Largest ancient faction due to their goals largely aligning with the Joybringers. They're the traditional bacchanalian sect that's all about wine and fucking, but largely for the purpose of getting man down to his basest possible elements, beyond pure instinct, where the shared heartbeat of humanity is said to lie. Because of this, they're actually considered excellent healers as they can cool off the angry, and inspire the hopeless. Just expect a hangover afterwards.
• Vratyas: The most insular of the code-adherent; having never left their Nepalese monastaries. They are considered the world's foremost masters of Tantra, and are said to be the men that Sh'Zar himself met in order to first unlock the secrets of Ecstasy. They reveal extremely little of their craft to outsiders, but are rumored to be taught from birth on how to best maximize the potential of the human body.
• Erzuli Jingo: A very lost and dying Dreamspeaker cult that forgot where it was in the middle of it's religious experience generating and spirit calling. Not really very powerful anymore.

The Non-Code adherent Factions are:

• Acharne: The worst parts of college fraternities and secret societies all in one awful place. They lionize mental and physical suffering, and will put their adherents through hell just to join, and fuck up their lives just to see if it can be done. They work primarily with the Mind Sphere as opposed to the Time Sphere, and are sometimes called Durdenites in the modern day due to them largely being the kind of person who watches Fight Club and thinks Tyler Durden is the hero.
• Aghoris: The oldest Non-Code sect, and ironically one of the greatest masters of Ecstatic magic...though they get there in a less than ideal way. The Aghoris understand life to be an illusion, and the self to be the greatest illusion of all, which means they practice an unbelievable amount of harm to each other and others in order to achieve enlightenment. They have also lost most of the masters that kept them in check, they have mostly degenerated into being the most Slaaneshi of all Ecstatics and most don't really like hanging out with them.
• Dissonance Society: Anarchists and Communists who want to completely reboot society by either convincing people to help restart it or actively destroy it. Initially born from within the Joybringers, they bend the Code way too often to ever be considered truly adherent in the name of saving humanity...though usually by causing a ton of trouble.
• Hagalaz: Straight up Vikings who didn't really take to Christianity and modern life, and honestly got very mad about all of it being imposed on them and joined the Ecstatics using traditional norse runic magic as a base for their berzerker fury. They have ties to the Verbena, but even they have their limits on how much they're willing to hear out the Sons of Wotan in their fatalistic rampages. Great to have in a fight however.